North Korea Fires Rockets at South

Brazen attack on island near disputed waters kills two marines, prompts return fire as other nations call for calm

By

Evan Ramstad And

Jaeyeon Woo

Updated Nov. 25, 2010 5:25 a.m. ET

SEOUL—North Korea fired artillery at a South Korean island near a disputed western maritime border Tuesday, killing two South Korean marines in a surprise barrage that kindled global worries about worsening relations between the countries.

In the wake of North Korea's attack on a South Korean island, John Bussey looks at how the incident differs from past skirmishes and what role China might play to lower tensions between the two countries. Plus, making art out of beef fat.

Victor Cha, Director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University, talks to Simon Constable about the implications of today's artillery rocket attack by North Korea on a South Korean island and whether it will lead to a full-scale war.

More Video

A South Korean military unit on the island returned fire, while South Korean military officials scrambled fighter jets. At least 16 marines were injured, military officials said. Three civilians were injured, and the island's 1,200 residents were sent scrambling for bomb shelters.

"The whole neighborhood is on fire," said, Na Young-ok, a resident of the island, called Yeonpyeong, from a bomb shelter about an hour after the shelling began.

South Korean officials condemned North Korea and warned that it would respond in kind to further provocations, while South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of defense and security agencies.

"The attack is a sheer act of provocation. Moreover, shooting indiscriminately on civilians cannot be forgiven," said Hong Sang-pyo, spokesman for Mr. Lee. "Our military reacted immediately according to our combat rules. We will act sternly against any more provocation. North Korea should take the responsibility for this."

North Korea's official media late Tuesday said South Korea's military fired artillery into water on the North's side of the maritime border while conducting a drill, and that in response it fired the artillery at Yeonpyeong.

A South Korean presidential spokeswoman said officials were exploring whether there was a link between the shelling and North Korea's earlier complaints about a large-scale exercise the South's military started this week. North Korea has complained in the past about exercises without retaliation, however, and the South's large-scale exercise wasn't taking place near the island.

A History of Korean Tensions

A detailed timeline of the recent skirmishes between North and South Korea.

The U.S. and European Union condemned the shelling, while Russia and China called for a cooling of tensions on the peninsula. Japan's government went on high alert, with Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordering cabinet members to step up information gathering and prepare for emergencies.

"The United States is firmly committed to the defense of our ally, the Republic of Korea, and to the maintenance of regional peace and stability," the White House press secretary said in a statement, referring to South Korea by its formal name. The White House said President Barack Obama plans to call South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to discuss the attack.

The U.S. will stand "shoulder-to-shoulder" with South Korea over the incident, said White House Press Secretary Bill Burton .

Mr. Burton called the attack "outrageous" and said the U.S. wants to send its condolences to South Korea. Mr. Burton said the U.S. will work with global leaders in the coming days to figure how to best deal with North Korea's attack.

Col. David Lapan, the Pentagon spokesman, said that no additional U.S. military assets had been moved to the region, nor were any discussions of immediately holding military exercises planned.

Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief, called on the "North Korean authorities to refrain from any action that risks further escalation and to fully respect the Korean Armistice Agreement."

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China, North Korea's main benefactor, called for peace and stability. "We hope all involved parties will do more to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula," Hong Lei said during a regular news conference.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the attack and conveyed his concerns to the Security Council's president, saying the attack was "one of the gravest incidents since the end of the Korean War."

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, whose country holds the council presidency, said he is in discussions with other council members and the secretary-general and that a council meeting is likely to be held Wednesday.

The incident comes after relations soured dramatically between the two Koreas over the past two years, as North Korea's totalitarian regime became angered at South Korea's decision to cut off economic assistance unless it ends its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The issue of North Korean nuclear weapons intensified over the weekend after the revelation that Pyongyang had already installed thousands of centrifuges to produce nuclear fuel at its Yongbyon nuclear facility

The exchange of fire also comes less than two months after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il began a process of transferring power to his son Kim Jong Eun, a process that analysts have said is likely to be volatile as the younger Kim grapples for authority over the North's military.

The incident roiled financial markets in Asia, briefly sending the U.S. dollar sharply higher before it gave back some gains, on a flight from what are considered riskier investment. The Bank of Korea convened an emergency meeting to discuss potential effects. Several financial analysts quickly issued reports that said they didn't expect South Korea's stock market to be heavily affected.

The episode adds to a list of more than 30 fatal or life-threatening attacks by the North against the South—including plane bombings, assassinations and naval skirmishes—since the two countries fought the Korean War in the 1950s.

Most recently, a South Korean warship sank in March about 40 miles west of the island struck Tuesday. South Korea blamed North Korea for the sinking, citing an exploded torpedo it found and other evidence.

South Korea Under Attack

A spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff said "scores of rounds" were fired by the North. The artillery was fired from positions south of the North Korean city of Haeju. Video captured by closed-circuit monitoring cameras on location showed people scrambling out of buildings as explosions rocked the island.

The artillery fire came without warning at 2:34 p.m local time and lasted for 65 minutes, military officials said. About 250 residents escaped the island in fishing boats and arrived in the port city of Incheon two hours later. As the sun set three hours after the attack, fires continued burning in numerous homes and buildings and smoke covered the island, according to people there and on a nearby island called So-yeonpyeong.

The incident shocked South Koreans, who have become accustomed through the years to brash statements and other provocations by North Korea.

"If this leads to any other provocation, it really will be disturbing in many ways," Song Young-min, an insurance consultant and military reservist, as he watched the news on his cellphone in downtown Seoul.

Lee Eui-sup, who works at South Korea's National Pension Service, said he immediately suspected instability inside the North's leadership due to the succession process prompted the firing. "It is a serious problem but will soon disappear as it usually does, I believe," Mr. Lee said.

From the island of So-yeonpyeong, residents watched as the rockets hit the larger Yeonpyeong island. Some sent photos and cellphone videos of the attack to South Korean TV stations. "When I heard the artillery, I thought it was a usual military exercise, but then I noticed the fire and smoke," said Lee Seung-yeon, a resident on the smaller island.

5:19 p.m.—Meeting scheduled for Wednesday morning with South Korea's Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong and other officials from the Knowledge Ministry, Financial Services Commission and Bank of Korea.

6 p.m.—President Lee's office issues a statement on the attack, calling it "clear military provocation" and warning of "stern" action if the North makes further military moves. Bank of Korea officials plan to hold an emergency meeting in Seoul to discuss monetary and financial market issues.

6:35 p.m.—The White House "strongly condemns" the attack.

7:11 p.m.—North Korea says it will continue to launch strikes if the South violates the maritime border.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

The two Yeonpyeong islands are the easternmost of five small islands that are within close firing range of North Korea. All are just a few kilometers away from the maritime border known in South Korea as the Northern Limit Line, or NLL, that was drawn up by the United Nations after the end of the Korean War in 1953.

The North has objected to the line since the early 1970s, arguing in part that the line forces its ships to take lengthy detours to international shipping lanes. Its objections intensified in the 1990s and led to two deadly skirmishes in the area in 1999 and 2002.

In 2007, leaders of the two Koreas agreed to turn the area into a "peace zone." That vaguely worded agreement was struck just ahead of a South Korean election by an outgoing government and never implemented. It was interpreted in North Korea as erasing the maritime border and in the South as keeping it.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.